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Finding Balance

New York City Center's Fall for Dance Festival continued with programs featuring Complexions Contemporary Ballet, a world premiere duet performed by Skylar Brandt and Herman Cornejo, and a tap tribute to Nina Simone performed by M.A.D.D. Rhythms collective, among other performances. 

Program four, which took place Sept. 26th and 27th, opened with Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet in a world premiere by Cameron sinkʷə Fraser-Monroe, a former Royal Winnipeg Ballet School student who is a member of the Tla'amin First Nation. Fraser-Monroe's new piece, “šɛgatəm,” pays homage to his Tla'amin Nation elders.

Performance

Fall for Dance: Program 4

Place

New York City Center, New York, NY, September 26, 2024

Words

Cecilia Whalen

The Royal Winnipeg Ballet in Cameron sinkʷə Fraser-Monroe's new piece, “šɛgatəm.” Photograph by Steven Pisano

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With a lush vocal score by Jeremy Dutcher, the dance follows a community leader who struggles to balance independence and dependence within a group. The leader is introduced as an elevated monument, lifted standing by six dancers. He breaks free, dancing separately with sweeping contemporary ballet movements that take him in and out of the floor. The group performs in unison, one moment all lined-up with arms woven both in front of and behind each other's shoulders, creating a long human braid out of which peek rolling heads. In this striking image, the dancers look like they're coming out of water, coming up for air.  

Last on this program was “Rhapsody in Blue” by the choreographer duo Iratxe Ansa and Igor Bacovich, performed by the Italian Centro Coreografico Nazionale/Aterballetto. Set to Gershwin's score, the piece depicts a crowd enchanted by the moon (literally: a giant, circular scenic design by Fabio Cherstich hangs as a backdrop).   

When the piece opens, the circle (which changes color) is a vibrant blue. The dancers face it, backs to the audience, swaying slowly. Momentarily released by the moon's hypnotic pull, they separate in pas de deux, tumbling over each other playfully, and thrusting dancers into the air. The choreography relates cinematically, comedically, and almost cartoon-like to the music: The dancers, all hypermobile, virtuosic movers, twitch in response to staccato piano notes, then hit poses in canon to glissandos. To a climactic crescendo, they slow way down, butoh-like, exaggerating facial expressions. 

CCN/Aterballetto in “Rhapsody in Blue” by Iratxe Ansa and Igor Bacovich. Photograph by Steven Pisano

Between these two pieces was Kyle Abraham's “MotorRover,” which, with only two dancers and no score, came as a stark contrast to the previously mentioned, more flamboyant (and less sophisticated) pieces on the program. “MotorRover” is a duet that was commissioned by the Baryshnikov Arts Center in 2021 as part of a series called “In Conversation with Merce,” in partnership with the Merce Cunningham Trust. It responds to an excerpt of Cunningham's 1972 “Landrover.”  

In his dances, Abraham often explores relationships, particularly within the Black American community. “MotorRover,” in conversation with Cunningham, is abstract, but still considers Abraham's central theme. The magnificent Abraham in Motion dancers Donovan Reed and Jamaal Bowman's relationship is partially comic. The two dancers leap, turn, and balance, then cast judging looks at each other. They perform goofy, taunting gestures, then, facing away from each other, shake their pointer fingers “no.” 

Donovan Reed and Jamaal Bowman in Kyle Abraham's “MotorRover.” Photograph by Steven Pisano

Later, their relationship softens. Reed performs a recurring developpé penché. He lifts his leg to the back and slowly extends as his upper body shifts forward. Sometimes, while Reed does this, Bowman is preoccupied. Other times, Bowman assists Reed, standing behind him, simply supporting the shape. The next time Reed does his penché, Bowman supports him from the front, a counterbalance that reveals itself to be an embrace. When this same partnering happens a third time, Bowman is offstage, and, with only Reed's back leg visible to the audience, we witness a moment of private intimacy. 

In “MotorRover,” the dancers curve and twist their upper bodies, hitting classic Cunningham positions. Where Cunningham might go directly from position to position, however, Abraham takes time to breathe. An upper body curve releases into an undulation; a twist into an arm swing. Brilliantly paying tribute to Cunningham, Abraham maintains his own distinctive fluidity, elegance, and swagger. As “MotorRover” ends, the duo seep back into abstraction, but each position is infused with new meaning. Reed and Bowman kneel to the floor and turn their heads right, a simple movement that projects like longing. Lastly, Reed stays seated and transitions into a curved, twisted upper body position with one arm pointed straight back and up. This is another classic Cunningham position, but from Abraham, it looks like praying. 

Cecilia Whalen


Cecilia Whalen is a writer and dancer from Charlotte, North Carolina. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and holds a bachelor's degree in French. Currently, Cecilia is studying composition at the Martha Graham School for Contemporary Dance in New York City. She lives in Brooklyn.

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